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10 Tips and Tricks for Business Owners

No matter how big or small, every business has room to grow, and with growth comes the consistent desire to improve, thrive, and be willing to change up the pace of how things go.

As a business owner or manager there are several ways that you can increase the success of your business.

Check out these 10 tricks and tricks that you can use and start implementing them today!

1. Maintain a Great Relationship With Your Staff

Your staff should be just as important to you as your customers, after all the success of your business depends on how great your staff is. Your staff can make or break business. They are the blood, sweat and tears of all major production and customer service.

Make it a point to maintain a great relationship with your staff. Hire smart, be willing to listen to their concerns, and treat them as individuals, not just people to help you run your business. You may need to come up with unique strategies to maintain a great relationship with your staff such as pre-shift meetings where you greet everyone in one setting and let them know of any specific goals for the day. Let them know of any last minute changes or anything happening with the business in the long-term.

Reach out to them personally and thank them when they do something great or take care of a customer in a specific way. When your staff feels a part of a team and appreciated, they will be more productive, more engaged with customers and overall happier.

2. Challenge Your Employees With Encouraging Motivators

Challenge your entire staff to be better and improve their customer service skills. Challenging your employees in a positive way can be a great tool to improve customer service, encourage staff members, and keep them on their toes to do a great job while also feeling supported and not threatened.

3. Use Optimal Scheduling Methods

In order for your employees to show up on time and know when they’re supposed to be at work, it’s smart to have an optimal scheduling system. Paper schedules are old news and can generate a lot of room for error.

Make things easier on you and your staff by upgrading your scheduling methods to a service such as Zip Schedules. In under five minutes, you can create all your schedules online for your entire staff. Zip Schedules does the rest of the hard work by automatically sending schedules out to employees and it allows you to make changes where workers will also be notified immediately.

If your employees need to request a day off, they can do so directly through the app and connect with other workers through the app to find a replacement so a shift is never left open. This is also great for employees because they can use the app to find open shifts they may be interested in to make some extra money that week.

4. Pay Attention to How the Environment Affects the Guest Experience

Aside from taking care of your employees, your customers should be your number one priority. One of the most common mistakes that business owners make is they don’t pay attention to how the environment of the restaurant affects the customer’s experience.

If your business is chaotic and seems to be making customers feel cramped, crowded, and annoyed, do your best to tone things down and consider adding some different music to your playlist. Unless you’re well-known for a chaotic atmosphere (such as a bar or club), you never want your customers to not be able to hear themselves speak to one another or feel annoyed by disorganized staff and chaos going on around them.

5. Leave Room for Growth

Leaving room for growth is also important for business owners to consider. For instance, when you first open, be sure you’re aware of zoning laws that occur so if you ever need to expand your business’ space, you can. Keep up with zoning laws and changes, and always be on the lookout for ways you can grow smart, not fast.

Remember, it’s smarter to grow strong and leave room for growth than to try to jump too big at once and have no room to grow later on. Use this philosophy with your finances, hours of operation, business area space, and even your company’s total locations.

6. Don’t Spend All You Make

Speaking of finances, be smart with yours! Spending all you make on staff, supplies, decorations, and even upgrades or pieces of technology can really take a toll on your overall profit. Consider using free resources whenever you can. Today, there is an app that can help with everything!

7. Continuously Train and Grow

Business owners should do whatever they can to continuously teach themselves and keep up on market trends, tech tools, free resources, and even attend regular seminars and classes for restaurant owners specifically. Remember, education is powerful and can help you implement ideas and stay at the top in your field for the long-haul; don’t overlook it!

8. Create a Savvy Website

Creating a savvy and beautiful website is absolutely crucial to success. While word of mouth and great customer service get you a long way, it’s all about online platforms these days.

A website that offers customers everything they want to see will likely motivate them to keep coming back, stay updated with your company, and they’ll feel as though you cater to their needs and are a place they can continuously rely on. Be sure your social media buttons are on your website too!

9. Use Social Media to Connect With Vendors

Social media is a great way to connect with your readers, but what about vendors? You can find new vendors through social media using relevant hashtags or search for specific types of vendors on Facebook and Twitter.

Getting social takes less time than it takes to make phone calls, schedule meetings, and find out the information you need. With a quick search, you might just be able to find your next favorite vendor or the one that can take your business to the next level!

This is also a great way to keep up with current vendors and thank them for what they do as well as share information with them or ask them questions in just a few clicks.

10. Promote Special Coupons and Deals Online to Guests Via Social Media

Regularly share Facebook posts regarding dishes of the day, specials you have, or just promote a fun food-related post that will bring a smile to their day.Tweet out coupons on Twitter and post them to Instagram. Share Instagram photos of your business and announce any specials you may have.

Let these 10 tips and tricks for restaurant owners and you might just be surprised how quickly you see results, but don’t stop there. Check out other ways to improve business with these helpful resources.